skankdelvar

It's been a struggle this month. Two abandoned attempts that wasted a whole week. On the other hand (i) Douglas has been spared an AC DC rip-off (ii) the world will never hear my take on Barry White. Basically the song's about something but I'm not sure exactly what. Probably something grim Lyrics ↓

Journalist, technical author, 'South Wales' most hirsute bass player 2021' and now engaged as Mr Sting's head extraction tech. Is there no end to Stubzy's talents? @Stub Mandrel

A rotary clothes line in its folded down position? Sorry, I've got nothing.

Well, I suppose it depends on how one parses that sentence. There are two possible meanings: i) Gibson are planning an extended Gene Simmons tribute range. Or: ii) Gibson intend to release more tribute basses including the Geddy Lee EB0 and the Paul McCartney Flying V.

Gene Simmons: 'Wowza! That's me, there in the mirror. Rawkanroll! Hey, Gibson guy, you have a look'. Gibson Guy: (Looks) 'Sorry, Gene. The only person I can see is myself.' Gene Simmons: 'No, no. It's me. Look harder'.

Hi nilorius and welcome to the forum

One time I was playing in a meat and veg covers band. The drummer hated Folsom Prison Blues with a passion so one night we said 'OK, we won't play it tonight', We all (or so I thought) scribbled it off our set lists. Second set, front man says 'Old Nat King Cole song, Route 66 ', we all boot off and the drummer's forgotten and he's playing his two-step country drum part for Folsom Prison Blues. We just kept going and played the whole of Route 66 like that. No one in the audience seemed to notice and it actually worked quite well, in an odd sort of way.

If you eventually decide to move the bridge there's a straightforward if slightly time-consuming way to hide the old holes. I won't go into detail now but it involves barbecue skewers

Oh, sure, myself, I'd prefer to move the bridge but that option's still open to Daj if he wants to try it further down the road. At which point we'll re-open the 'algebra vs masking tape' debate and we can all completely lose our minds

It's entirely possible the bridge was inaccurately positioned during the manufacturing process. Quality control was a bit uneven back in the day and, even recently, I've seen entry level basses with the saddles way too far forward or back, likewise strings missing the centre of pick-up pole pieces. If the bass sounds and plays OK then you won't need to move the bridge. Yeah, the screws are pulling out of the wood and you'll want to fix that. You need to plug the rear two screw holes so the screws can bite. @Dad3353kindly outlines the approved approach in his post but I'm a lazy sod so here's the quick and dirty way. You need to plug the holes but matchsticks are made of soft wood and the screws will eventually pull out again. Secure yourself some cocktail sticks, the ones they stick the little olives on. They're made of harder wood and won't splinter. If the screws are really loose you might need more than one cocktail stick to do the job. Take the bridge off the bass. Break the thin pointy end off a cocktail stick and throw it away. Push the remaining bit of cocktail stick firmly into one of the loose holes and, using a pencil, mark the stick where it's level with the top of the hole. Cut the stick below the mark so that the stick won't protrude out of the hole. Daub the stick liberally with wood glue and push it into the hole. Wipe off any glue that gets on the body of the bass. Once done, repeat with the other hole then leave the glue for a day so it can set. Screw the bridge back on to the bass, ensuring your earth is making contact. The other benefit to this repair is that pulling the bridge flat (and back) will microscopically lengthen the scale and also lower the action (which you might need to raise to get back to where you were before the repair).

i) If you can wind the saddles back a bit more then try it. ii) One always has to compromise with these two-saddle bridges. If you get one string dead-on, the string that shares the same saddle is almost always out. The trick is to adjust the scale length so that one string intonates slightly flat and the other string intonates slightly sharp. Players of traditionally-configured Telecaster guitars do this. iii) If you're mostly playing across the board between open and 7th fret then 'sweetened' tuning might (or might not) help. Try tuning the open E about 5 cents flat; the open A dead on 440hz; the open D about 5 cents sharp; the open G string 5 or more cents sharp. It won't look right on the tuner but it might sound better to the ear. Caveat: this works on one of my basses but not on the other iv) Man goes to the doctor, says 'Doctor, my arm hurts when I bend it', Doctor says 'Stop bending your arm then'. If all else fails, stop playing notes up near the twelfth fret

When I started this over on the RIP thread I didn't know that Stuart's daughter Kirsten has today (11/4/22) released a cover of her dad's song Peace In Our Time. This is in support of the charity War Child which "works directly with children who are living through conflicts, offering them safe spaces and delivering life-changing services and support". Vocal performers include Karen Matheson (Capercaillie), Dean Owens, Jill Jackson, Dave Burn, Lisa Rigby, Dan Raza, Emily Smith, Paul Gilbody and Jason McNiff.

Indeed so. They matured beyond the bagpipe guitar thing and knocked out some amazing songs. For a brief time they were spoken of in the same breath as U2 and IMO they were the better band. Nicely enough, the Edge paid great tribute to his friend Adamson and donated a guitar to a fundraiser for Adamson's family.

Remembering Stuart Adamson (Skids/ Big Country). A good man with his share of demons. Born this day in 1958, gone these 20-odd years.

You are Ed Sheeran's mum and I claim my £5.00 Seriously, though, the two passages are pretty much identical but the matter under review was whether Sheeran had copied the other bloke's work. I'm happy to believe he didn't and that the 22 million songs / 12 notes argument is pertinent in the case. I note that Mr Sheeran has engaged the services of a cinematographer to place his songwriting sessions on the record. Laudable, I'm sure, but who is to say they won't turn the camera off when Ed puts on some Marvin Gaye and licks the nib of his 'lucky pencil'? I do not know but I think we should be told.

TBPH, were I Mr Sami Chokri I might have raised an eyebrow on first hearing Shape Of You. IMHO the passages in dispute, though brief, are almost identical. Still, the law has spoken and Mr Sheeran may now access his royalties.

Well, that's a turn-up. Thank you, everyone

Just a song about daffodils. They're pretty. Lyrics ↓ Boring stuff ↓

Croikey! Not tonight? That means I'm well ahead of myself this month. (Resisting urge to go back and add a key change / bridge)

Hi fourbanger and welcome

Hi Crxfrd and welcome

I suppose one could assess the opportunity as if this were a 'normal' band that's based at some distance from home: * What's the money? How many gigs are lined up? * Will it get in the way of my day job and would I be away from home at times? * How much say would I get or will I just be playing someone else's lines? * Are they nice people or deluded monsters? In this specific circumstance one might add: * Do I trust the band management? * Salary or split of income? Do I get to submit my own songs and what's the deal on publishing? * Can I bill travel expenses to and from rehearsals? Time's one thing, cost is another * Will I find myself in a Pete Best situation where hard-core fans compete to throw abuse at the newbie? * Can I bill hookers to the touring expenses ledger?

Call yourselves that and you'll end up with punters asking you to play Voodoo Chile in the style of John and Yoko. Likewise, avoid 'The Exploding Plastic Chicken Inevitable' unless you want to be dressing up as Nico and making gruff, Teutonic noises over a wall of electric viola feedback. Nico: Oh, the cheekbones

If you ask the audience to name your band you'll end up being called Bandy McBandface. True fact.